• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Touchwiz Home or Go Launcher Ex

D

Darrenj1471

Lurker
Hello all

Firstly Im brand new to Android, and brand new to Samsung phones and obviously the S3.

I finally moved away from iPhone after 4 long years and am impressed with my new phone, but also confused as so many options and features.

A friend of mine simply said 'get go launcher ex' and left it at that. I dont really know what it is but I downloaded it and now every time I press the home button I am asked do I want to use TouchWiz Home or Go Launcher and Im not sure whats best or why I should use one over the other?

I have realised Go Launcher is a different laucher and yet I cant work out whats different apart from the fact it shows me a completely different home screen and contains none of the apps and widgets Id spent a while setting up. Also the one time I chose to use it a default I couldnt work out how to get back to the touchwiz pages ever so deleted the app and reinstalled

Basically should I use Go Launcher instead of Touchwiz ie set it as default? and if so Why?

I realise perhaps this may be covered somewhere else in forum so apologies upfront if it is and feel free to link me ...thanks in advance everyone
 
People get alternative launchers because they like to customize their homescreen and have additional features that TouchWiz cannot/will not do.

So, as an Android newbie, I'd recommend you stick with TouchWiz for awhile until you're comfortable with everything and decide you want a change, then try alternative launchers, lockscreens, etc.
 
Hey there,
First off, if you want to revert back to Touchwiz, do the following:
1. Go to Settings>Application Manager
2. Find Go Launcher in the list and click it
3. Press 'Clear Defaults'
4. Press the home button and you can now select your launcher again

In terms of which is better, everyone's different. If you go with a 3rd party launcher you will lose the Touchwiz widgets though.
I'd say try out Touchwiz for a week, then try Go out, see which you prefer. You'll find the differences that matter to you that way.

I used to have an HTC Desire and used Go Launcher and Launcher Pro instead of the Sense interface as it was prettuy but restrictive in terms of what you could and couldn't do. IMO, I think the Touchwiz interface has taken a leaf out of their books with regard to features people like and have made a pretty good stock launcher.

As I say though, each to their own.

HTH

Elbee
 
jerofld said:
People get alternative launchers because they like to customize their homescreen and have additional features that TouchWiz cannot/will not do.

So, as an Android newbie, I'd recommend you stick with TouchWiz for awhile until you're comfortable with everything and decide you want a change, then try alternative launchers, lockscreens, etc.
Click to expand...

Beat me to it
:D
 
Think about Go Launcher as another 'door to the same room'.

TouchWiz is one door & Go Launcher is another door

Within Go Launcher there are many options\settings. Once you've set Go Launcher as your default (you can change back to TouchWiz in Settings \ applications \ Go Launcher \ Clear Defaults) you can go into the settings for it, and set options\settings. There are settings for when the screen is locked, i.e. what will show on the screen, there are settings for themes, icons, wallpaper, etc. etc.

See more details here...
 
Ok bit of a delayed reply as I chose to stick with the 'current door' and get used to Touchwiz as someone suggested.

I now feel Im ready to change , The question I have is , will I lose some of the S3 functionality if I change? By this I mean mainly the Motion things like lift to ear to call etc??
 
Neither. Get Apex. Uses less battery and is smoother than Go Launcher Pro. I've ran battery tests and the battery difference is quite large. One reason I like a different launcher is the gesture feature. I like a clean look and being able to hide apps in favor of gestures is great. Go does this too but Apex is a nicer launcher. Once you do that then grab GoSMS Pro.
 
I would recommend Apex launcher too. It's very smooth, light on memory, battery efficient and still offers many features/settings. It feels like Launcher Pro back in the days of Froyo/Gingerbread.

Nova is pretty close to Apex in speed, fluidity but it's not as battery efficient and has less features than Apex. I'm talking about free versions.
 
Go Launcher for me. Used in my SGS and now using on my S3.

Can't understand comments re battery life. Tend to only switch 3G/Wifi on as I need it and getting about 3 days of moderate use. And only 1-2% drop overnight.

Agree with other comments try standard and then some of the other launchers and decide for yourself.

If you have any issues with any launcher post on here and someone will help.
 
I liked Go Launcher a lot on my old phone, but when I switched over to it, my battery life seemed to drop noticeably - not significantly, but enough that I noticed it and uninstalled it. I loved everything else about it though.
 
I'm completely happy with GO launcher and their widgets are pretty good too. I don't see a need to switch to something "post ICS".

Go has kept with the times. It's not Launcher Pro or ADW. It is also now "Post ICS"
 
Try each one out for your self. If you feel TouchWiz is not getting it done for you. The biggest benefit usually from these 3rd party launchers is the amount of customization you can get. For some it looks as well. For me I just get bored with the look of my phone. So when I feel I need a refresh I try a launcher. Its fun to try all them over a period of time. I have never used Apex, but I was pleased with Go Launcher.

And for the post with 3 days battery life, I would love to see the amount of time your screen was on. I used moderate usage with a lot of conserving and I stretched out like 1day and 12 hours my battery was off the charger. I watched no videos and didn't play any games.
 
Not to hijack here but since we're on the launcher subject, I've noticed on Apex that some of the stock widgets don't display correctly. For instance, the Alarm widget doesn't appear at the correct size and also won't sit on the app grid the same as it does on the stock skin. Anyone know why? To tie this back into the original thread, what custom launcher does this correctly?
 
im surprised no one has mentioned home switcher. if youre playing around with different launchers, home switcher makes it much, much easier to go back and forth between launchers to make comparisons or just mess around.

ashykat said:
Not to hijack here but since we're on the launcher subject, I've noticed on Apex that some of the stock widgets don't display correctly. For instance, the Alarm widget doesn't appear at the correct size and also won't sit on the app grid the same as it does on the stock skin. Anyone know why? To tie this back into the original thread, what custom launcher does this correctly?
Click to expand...

have you gone through the settings thoroughly? i personally have yet to try apex, but i believe some launchers have settings to do with widget size. this could be causing your issue
 
scooter1942 said:
im surprised no one has mentioned home switcher.
Click to expand...


Didn't know it supported anything above android 2.1 to be honest.

Anyway, I dont mind going into a couple of extra menus to press a button if it means not having to download an app for it.
 
SUroot said:
Didn't know it supported anything above android 2.1 to be honest.

Anyway, I dont mind going into a couple of extra menus to press a button if it means not having to download an app for it.
Click to expand...

looking into the reviews, it apparently works with gingerbread, and i see a review from someone with an s iii in there too, so who knows. besides, its only 158k, free, and you can delete it after youre settled on one.
 
SUroot said:
I'm completely happy with GO launcher and their widgets are pretty good too. I don't see a need to switch to something "post ICS".

Go has kept with the times. It's not Launcher Pro or ADW. It is also now "Post ICS"
Click to expand...

Aye. ADW was my favorite third party launcher. Makes me sad that they haven't updated it in about a year (at least it seems).

I might try Apex if I ever get tired of TW, though.
 
SUroot said:
I'm completely happy with GO launcher and their widgets are pretty good too. I don't see a need to switch to something "post ICS".

Go has kept with the times. It's not Launcher Pro or ADW. It is also now "Post ICS"
Click to expand...
if you want something built for older versions of Android be my guest...we are running ICS on our phones, so i want a launcher that is built with ICS in mind...

there is a reason Nova and Apex don't run on pre-ICS devices...
 
I've never used apex... but I've used nova.. I loved the features and would still be using it right now.. but I couldn't stand the "jutter" I would get here and there.. I'll admit it's not a very noticeable jutter, but still not as smooth as stock. If your not the picky/ocd type like me when it comes to scrolling smoothness, then I say definitely give it a try.
 
nseriessaga said:
I've never used apex... but I've used nova.. I loved the features and would still be using it right now.. but I couldn't stand the "jutter" I would get here and there.. I'll admit it's not a very noticeable jutter, but still not as smooth as stock. If your not the picky/ocd type like me when it comes to scrolling smoothness, then I say definitely give it a try.
Click to expand...

really? ive been running Nova (free version) for the past few hours...gonna roll with it all day Saturday...then try out Apex on Sunday to see which i like the best then gonna buy that one...but Nova has been BUTTER smooth even loaded up with widgets that would make my DX choke on its own feces...
 
Metfanant said:
really? ive been running Nova (free version) for the past few hours...gonna roll with it all day Saturday...then try out Apex on Sunday to see which i like the best then gonna buy that one...but Nova has been BUTTER smooth even loaded up with widgets that would make my DX choke on its own feces...
Click to expand...

Like I said, it's pretty smooth but certain times (1 out of 4) homescreen pages would bitter the slightest bit. Maybe it was just my setup for whatever reason, but nevertheless it's a good product. Just not silky as stock for me.
 
nseriessaga said:
Like I said, it's pretty smooth but certain times (1 out of 4) homescreen pages would bitter the slightest bit. Maybe it was just my setup for whatever reason, but nevertheless it's a good product. Just not silky as stock for me.
Click to expand...

just found it interesting because i have not experienced it thats all...im not doubting you by any stretch...

ive always found different phones react to different apps (especially launchers) differently...for instance my DX was in love with LauncherPro...ran better on LPP than any of the other launchers (ADW, Go, etc...)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom